Double Le Mans winner to lead three Gulf GT40s at Amelia Island

The Ford GT40 that made racing history as the first car to win Le Mans twice will be the star attraction at next year’s Amelia Island Concours when the event celebrates the model’s 50th anniversary in Florida, USA from 8-10 March.

Famously built by Ford after Ferrari rejected a takeover bid, the money-no-object racer would go on to be one of the most successful Le Mans cars in history – dominating endurance racing for four years.

Meanwhile, chassis 1075 managed two victories, first in the hands of Pedro Rodríguez and Lucien Bianchi in 1968, and then with Jacky Ickx and Jackie Oliver the following year when it finished just 70 yards ahead of the second-placed Porsche 908 of Hans Herrmann and Gérard Larrousse.

Founder of the Amelia Island Concours, Bill Warner, said: “Having the first of only three cars to win Le Mans twice on the concours field is a thrill for me.”

Also on show will be two more Gulf-liveried cars – chassis 1076, which finished third at Le Mans in ’69, and 1074, a rebuilt original Mirage racer.